In his own words: LOLs with Keith Langford

Outspoken former Jayhawk recalls ups, downs of college days and beyond

Former Kansas basketball player Keith Langford, who graduated from KU in 2005, has a younger brother, Justin Wesley, who will play for the KU men's basketball team during 2010-11 season.

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Photo by Thad Allender

Senior Keith Langford sports a suit and tie, instead of a jersey, during KU's Big 12 tournament semi-final game with Oklahoma State Saturday, March 12, 2005 at Kemper Arena in Kansas CIty. Langford was battling a bad reaction to painkillers which was causing his kidneys to shut down.

Photo by Nick Krug

Keith Langford, right, gives a hug to former teammate Jeff Hawkins’ mother, Addye Hawkins, following an alumni scrimmage on June 16 at Horejsi Center. Langford, 26, plays for Khimki Moscow in the Euroleague.

Kansas University's Keith Langford (5) winces as he leaves the
Jayhawks' 72-68 loss to Missouri because of an ankle injury.
Langford played just three minutes in the setback Sunday in
Columbia, Mo., and his status for Friday's Big 12 Conference
tournament opener is in doubt.

It feels good to be back in the saddle, both starting practice for the season and writing in a Kansas newspaper. It’s funny because I’m sure a lot of the journalism professors from when I was in school are gritting their teeth now.

Don’t worry, professor, I won’t give any “props of the day,” lol.

On second thought, I will give props because I’m not bound by the handcuffing criteria by which we sometimes have to learn. So props go to a very special person that is long overdue, not only props, but ‘thankyous’ and ‘Godblessyous’ from me.

See, this past year, turning 26 was an incredible year for me. I was able to make incredible strides as a man, in my career (ching ching!), and thoroughly have started to appreciate what matters most. At the end of the day it’s always about the people in your life, the impressions you make, smiles and frowns you give, lives you touch.

This past year I have read about everything from the hardships of Darnell Jackson to the incredible status Sherron Collins has propelled himself to and recently the full-circle story written about my younger brother (Justin Wesley), who is now playing at KU, that made me ponder about my “story,” so to speak.

In reflecting upon my time at KU recently I wanted to give a piece of my life these last five years. Before any of that, I absolutely have to atone for maybe the biggest mistake I made while at KU.

Kudos to Susanne Shaw

During my Senior Day speech in 2005, I thanked everyone who played an intricate part in my success, but the other day while in conversation it dawned on me that I left one person out, and I couldn’t believe it. That person is Susanne Shaw, my advisor from the J-school.

From the time I met her as a junior until I left KU, that woman was there for me like no other! Not only in an academic sense but in a motherly, advising, supporting way. She was in my corner like you wouldn’t believe, and I regret whole-heartedly that I didn't have the chance to personally thank her in front of 16,300.

So Susanne, I love you and thank you for every second of the time you spent on me. I truly miss the many conversations we had in your office from how I played to discussions about Seattle and your many travels. Thank You! Whew! I literally just took my heart out and put it on paper.

One confused kid

Five years ago I left KU as confused as the day I arrived. Life as I knew it was over. I was undrafted, bitter about injuries and the way my senior year ended, upset that I didn't take advice from agents in New Orleans my sophomore year after we beat Marquette (true story: I saw D-Wade a few years later and he acknowledged the whooping!) to enter the draft.

Disappointed in coach (Roy) Williams and pointing fingers at coach (Bill) Self, I set off into a world of professional basketball that I was not prepared for. Not from a standpoint of talent — even though I did need to improve — but I was coming off a period of real adversity that I didn’t know how to deal with.

Before setting off into basketball purgatory as I now refer to it, I was trying to heal from my senior year. See, what a lot of you may not know — as a matter of fact none of you know because it was kept secret — was that my senior year I battled issues with low kidney function.

Before everyone assumes I’m sick, I want to be clear that it was the result of an allergic reaction. Point being that it was difficult for me to bite my tongue and let people assume I had the flu or a stomach virus when I watched the Big 12 tourney and spent a week leading up to the NCAA tourney in a hospital bed.

How’d Keith get so sick?

I had sprained my ankle in the first game against Mizzou in their new arena, and I wanted to play so badly I took a couple different injections that none of us had any idea I was allergic to, and it started from there. I can remember the days after not being able to use the bathroom and getting bloated like crazy.

I called our trainer in the middle of the night, and he’d agreed to meet me at the training room, but I couldn’t walk over, and luckily former football player Greg Heaggans was in the parking lot of the Towers and was able to help me get to the training room.

After getting to the hospital, the doc says, "Well, Keith, your kidney function is declining, but we don't know why," and all I’m thinking is, "Then why the hell are you talking to me? Go figure it out." So here I am in a hospital bed knowing the guys are practicing and getting ready for the postseason, but no one ever visited.

I watched the first game or so of the Big 12 tourney and then was finally able to join the guys on the bench in a suit, which honestly is one of my favorite pics to this day (thanks LJW). After the Big 12 tourney, we were getting ready for Selection Sunday, and all the interviewers were asking me questions about a flu bug and stomach virus.

It was difficult not to tell, but I knew the team was trying to respect my privacy and not make things seem as bad. The only thing was, it backfired!

Message-board madness

During that time, the players spent plenty of time reading message boards. I hope they don’t now, because it can be a guy’s confidence-killer if they don’t have thick skin.

I read so much about me being this and that, messing up the team, "Langford suck it up." The whole time I’m thinking, "(Bleeps), I was dealing with real issues." Not to mention the year before in January after we played Oklahoma I found out after some exams that I needed microfracture surgery.

Upon finding out, I was given the option to red-shirt and rehab or play out the year while taking painkiller injections before every game. It’s obvious I chose the latter, but point being I was being ripped, no one knew what I had given up or been through for the team, and here I was reduced to a guy whom people wanted out and had missed one of the most important stretches of his career because of a stomach virus. It was awful.

One resentful kid

I resented everyone and everything. Myself for not leaving (after two seasons), teammates and friends for convincing me not to transfer or leave, and anyone who knew the real story of what was going on with me but didn’t stand up for me in the midst of criticism I came under during that time.

Then to not start my last game as a Jayhawk (a loss to Bucknell in NCAAs) was tough to swallow, but coach did the right thing because I was in no condition to play. I can remember us looking at each other when he called my name to come in the game, and we both kind of had that look like, "You better go because this might be it."

It’s weird looking back on it now because I held so much in and just didn’t communicate what I was really feeling. That must be the difference in a 21-year-old kid and a man who will turn 27 in a month. Knowing what I do now, I can only smile and tell my story enthusiastically because I understand God had a plan for me the whole time.

Unveiling the plan

See, I let basketball become everything I was about. The glory, newspaper clippings, women, potential earnings and the lack of attention to class. There was no way I could be the man I’m turning into now by being spoon-fed every step. A friend of mine a long time ago told me that sometimes we have to learn the hard way. The ones who get the fairy tale, hey, good for them, but honestly, there is nothing like being able to exhale, fall to your knees and be thankful for what you have been through to get where you are.

After a poor start and strong finish in the NBA’s D-League, I was able to sign my first six-figure deal in Europe and, upon that experience, my eyes opened to so much more.

I started to understand what making a living meant and how to adapt in difficult situations. Hey, if you can go through coach Self’s Boot Camp, then putting the wrong gas in your car and being stuck on the highway in Milan, Italy, is a piece of cake.

Those times of adversity and change at KU helped me tremendously. I play for the head coach of the Spanish National team, Sergio Scariolo, who has quite the reputation as a dictator in the Euro basketball world.

There is no way I could handle the criticism and mental pushing if it weren’t for coach Self. Playing in the Euroleague, which is the second-best league after the NBA, has no pressure in comparison to playing in the fieldhouse (more props to fans) and playing in two Final Fours with countless Big 12 battles.

I figured out that while you can’t use adversity while you’re going through it, the key to the 180 comes from being able to apply it in life’s future ups and downs because as we all know they arrive always.

Still a work in progress

I’m no finished product by any means. I’m still learning (from) experiences with people in Russia, business endeavors, my fiancee and developing into a leader for my family. As for the NBA, I have no problem saying I’m a fan just like the next man.

No longer am I the bitter athlete who blames the world without looking in the mirror. I can honestly say I have career averages of 1 point and 1 rebound in the NBA. Lol!

That’s crazy to me coming from where I did. What’s even crazier is that if I ever have the opportunity to go back, I would have to take a pay cut if I earned the minimum as weird as it sounds. I have my (San Antonio Spurs) jersey hanging in my house and it will be there to show my kids one day and for anyone whom ever inquires.

Will another jersey hang ... in Allen?

I often get asked in interviews or by people if I feel my jersey should be retired. I actually think that’s a dumb question. Um, hell yeah I do, lol! Criteria changes every year, and I’m waiting on the day when they change it to guys that make the all-tourney team (in NCAA Final Four).

I’m ecstatic to think about the other names on the all-tourney team from New Orleans! Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Nick (Collison), Kirk (Hinrich), then throw my Langford in the mix! That’s off the chain!

Sorry about the outburst, but any fan of ball has to get excited about achieving something like that. It’s more than just being on an all-Final Four team. Simple fact is, numbers don’t lie.

Points means productivity, and there have only been six more people in the history of KU men’s basketball who have been more productive from that standpoint.

Not to mention being ranked highly for mpg and three-point field goals made. Lol, yea, I said it! I can hear the haters saying, "Well, Langford played all four years. Blah blah blah." Hey, it’s not my fault other guys left early. Maybe I would have, too, had I known (what I know) now, but things work the way they do for a reason.

Some of the guys who left early accomplished things I didn’t and vice versa. I’ll never be a first-round pick, and they’ll never be in the top 10 scoring at KU. Life’s not fair, I guess. None of that would have been possible without every teammate I ever had. That’s from Aaron Miles and every member of my class to (Christian) Moody, (Stephen) Vinson, (Brett) Olson and (Nick) Bahe. (Hey, guys, remember the night we killed everybody at pickup? Classic!) Just like anyone else who works or does well in school ... at the end of the day people just want to be appreciated for what they have worked hard to accomplish.

Chad Ford was right and wrong

Lastly, I remember after the pre-draft camp reading where ESPN “insider” Chad Ford wrote something about me not being able to play in the NBA and advising me to get my passport. Well, Chad was right and wrong. I did make my way to a couple of checks from the Spurs, but his advice to get my passport was the best thing I could have ever done after going through what I did.

I just accepted everything that I am as a player. I am a shade over 6-3 without shoes, and depending on what kind I wear I might be 6-4 or so. I do go left a lot, and though I do shoot more jumpshots now, I will keep penetrating by anyone if I so choose.

So, in taking Chad’s advice I was able to become a millionaire, buy my fiancee a nice engagement ring, expose my family to things we never could before and become one of the most important players in European basketball among other things. THANKS CHAD! Life has a funny way of turning around for you when you feel you hit rock bottom. I just encourage anyone reading this to pray, love and live. Everything else falls in between.

— To reach Keith Langford, email Gary Bedore at gbedore@ljworld.com and he will pass the notes on to Langford in Russia.

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Comments

Thanks for the great article Keith! It's great to hear the inside story from someone who was there. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you light it up for the ol' Crimson & Blue! I always felt you and your class got a raw deal with Roy leaving you in the lurch, but like a champion, you came out ahead in the end. Best of luck where ever the basketball world takes you. And, of course it's too late now, but pay no heed to the negative posters on an internet chat board. A good portion of them are just armchair point guards who don't really know anything about the game, just blowing off steam. Remember, they'll let anyone post here. Best of luck Keith!

Keith was truly one of the best shooters from 15 feet we've had, when he was at his best. And he could slash and get there anytime he wanted in his first couple years before the injury.

His last year was such a tough thing to watch, and now we know what really happened.

What a great article Keith.

You are truly a Jayhawk forever & now that we know what happened your senior year, you are officially on the all-time great team with Wilt & Danny & Pierce & Jo Jo that would take down Lew Alcindor & Bill Walton in the championship game, thanks to a last second buzzer beater by our supersecret weapon, the Super K.

(actually Keith we would beat them 150-95, with you & Terry Brown scoring 40 apiece, lol).

While I'm sorry you had the problems you had, I always appreciated what you gave to KU basketball, and I will always have you as one of my favorite players for the way you could play with anyone. Hearing now the reasons for the decline that final season and knowing it was much more serious than a stomach flu, well, I am amazed that you could even play a minute let alone as much as you did at the end.

Great read and thankful Keith still has his love for KU and expresses it so well. Never once during his down time did I not love him. He gave his all and as he stated so eloquently not everything was known to the public. Yes, we knew about his knee but the more serious renal dysfunction is surprising. Thankful he overcame that and is healthy. I saw him at the summer camp and he looked so happy to be there. Thanks Keith for your 4 full years to KU and I wish you nothing but success in the future.

Thanks for the great article Keith! Unfortunately my favorite memory from you is a dunk you missed against Baylor. Fast break. GREAT pass from Aaron Miles. You go up with your RIGHT hand and miss it. I remember Aaron turning around and celebrating before you missed. I still have a picture of it for anyone who is having trouble remembering:

Hey Keith -- I'm probably just like everyone else here and feel that I'm the biggest Jayhawk fan alive -- and I always liked you. If you think there were any hard feelings from true fans, you're wrong. It was too bad that your career had to end going through a coaching change, but that also gave you the opportunity to play under another great coach. Thanks for writing this column and please come back often. Good luck this season!

Thanks Keith for a great read on a sunday morning. You still are one of my favorite Jayhawks of all time. Best of luck to you in the european league... and I for one think your jersey should be hanging in the rafters of Allen.

Really enjoyed this article. These guys (Keith, Wayne, and Aaron) were my college years and the reason I fell in love with college basketball on and off the court. Best of luck to you Keith and thank you for hanging in there!

This was an excellent article. It was real, not sugar-coated. Keith didn't hide the cockiness and disappointment. I think we all appreciate it when people aren't just blowing smoke. For my part, the 2005 New Year's game against Georgia Tech when Langford hit the jumper at the end of OT to win while I was wearing my number 5 jersey and standing behind the basket was probably my favorite moment watching basketball in the Fieldhouse.

As anyone knows, being comfortable in one's own skin is not always the easiest thing to be. Keith has truly taken his playing days from KU and rebuilt himself after a bout with his own self worth, and I applaud him for it.

I cannot remember being down on KL, nor thinking he was not giving his all, and it is good to read that he was sucking it up a lot more than the average fan knew. I am very sorry no one visited him in the hospital, though. That sounds like an out of character move by HCBS, but that is pure conjecture.

Best of luck to you, Keith, and I am sure the personal and professional fulfillment will continue with your life in Europe and your many happy returns to the Hill.

I still remember calling Roy Williams' radio show after I had first seen Keith play as a freshman. I told Coach Williams how we had heard so much about the rest of this great recruiting class, but who is this Langford kid? I was so impressed with his game from the jump.

But now I'm impressed with something more. I'm so impressed with the personal growth that Keith reveals in this article. He's gone from an angry young man to a grateful man.

Keith wrote, "knowing what I do now, I can only smile and tell my story enthusiastically because I understand God had a plan for me the whole time." I'm so glad you have discovered this truth, Keith (tragically, some never learn it).

Another important thing that we can take away from this article by Keith is how destructive negative comments on message boards can be. Keith wrote,

"During that time, the players spent plenty of time reading message boards. I hope they don’t now, because it can be a guy’s confidence-killer if they don’t have thick skin."

That's a great reminder that we all should be more careful about what we write on this board. Honest disagreements and opinions can be expressed without dissing a person's character. Hateful words really do wound the heart.

Ask and you shall receive. I dug way, way into the archive and dug up the original. It was in a very old content management system, which is why it was hard to find until just now.

Senior Keith Langford sports a suit and tie, instead of a jersey, during KU's Big 12 tournament semi-final game with Oklahoma State Saturday, March 12, 2005 at Kemper Arena in Kansas CIty. Langford was battling a bad reaction to painkillers which was causing his kidneys to shut down.
by Thad Allender

hopefully you will read THIS message board. i feel as though i am as loyal as any KU fan out there. i hate that some of these idiots say the things they do (most of whom have never been close to walking in another's shoes). YOU WERE AN AWESOME JAYHAWK through and through. Thank you for being such a fun player to follow. You deserve all the great things you get!! I loved keeping tabs on which shoes you would bust out for tip or at the half! You were clutch and always fun to watch! I hope to see 5 up in Allen someday soon!!

This is what I will always remember about Keith Langford. 16 points in the second half of the Georgia Tech game to hit the game winner in OT only to avenge the 2004 Elite 8 loss to Georgia Tech. Didn't totally avenge the loss because I'm still not sure how KU lost to GT in OT in 2004, but nonetheless, this game felt awesome after being down so much so early.

I know the Hawks are still the "Champs" of the Big 12 until somebody takes them down, but I was still a little shocked by Fraschilla's prediction of Kansas winning the Big 12. I thought K-State deserved the #1 ranking closely followed by KU.

I went to KU during the years you were there and your play was so fun to watch. How cool is that to be able to say for the rest of your life that not only were you a KU basketball player, but you took us to two Final Fours!

Best of luck to you! And you know you'll always have people wanting to buy you a beer in Lawrence!

My favorite player in high school. The man could get to the rim at will. If only he had developed the jumper he has now when he was here, he would have been an All-American easily. I think everyone is pretty much in agreement on their favorite Keith moment and that was his game winner against GT his senior year. A great game in a disappointing season. Its still too bad that Keith was sick and we lost to Bucknell, but I'll never forget that class. Miles, one of the best pure points I've ever seen (too bad he couldn't score or he might have made it in the NBA). Simien, with that unstoppable 15-18 ft turnaround. Michael Lee, (sadly my only memory I can think of is getting the shot blocked against syracuse), and Keith, arguably the best slasher we've had in my lifetime. It was a great class that did great things. They fell short of the ultimate prize but we love them all the same. Good luck in Euroleague Keith.

It should be duly noted Langford's mom was on the message boards his entire four years. She was a quite stirrer of things and mostly in a good way. Hence, his distate for message boards may relate back to her.

Langford was never one of my favorite players, always seemed selfish and pouty and I really thought he acted that way his last 2 years at KU. Who could blame him, Roy screwed him over! It worked out great for KU but for those guys that he left, I know it had to feel terrible. I thought that his entire senior year he was a poison in that locker room instead of being a leader. He hit some big shots and I remember him fondly as I do most of the jayhawks, but he was not very high in character in my opinion. I'm sure he did battle through inuries and sickness and the knee injury was something I think we all could notice when he quit driving and started shooting more jumpers. I feel bad for him because of that, but it is nothing that a lot of other players don't go through. I do however think he has matured and I enjoyed this article from the standpoint that he could admit he was bitter and that he has learned from it and moved on. Thank you Keith for all of the positive things you did while at KU and I wish you nothing but the best in the future.

At the end of the day everyone just wants....
Keith, it is with a sigh of relief and a feeling of joy that many of your former followers can now read that you have achieved tremendous success in your lifetime preoccupation; and that you are approaching that moment of peace with the turmoil which befell you in the transition years of Jayhawk Basketball. Many of us were thrilled to read that your brother will transfer to KU as a roundball walk-on. Few university athletes have been blessed with the privelege of having played for two powerful NCAA Championship coaches. Sad that the Big Ring didn't fall to the hands of you and that marvelous crew with whom you played. But yours were fabulous seasons for the Jayhawk Faithful. Best of luck in all future endeavors. Please return to Lawrence often, and continue to share your written communications.

Super K... my gameday jersey is a Nike #5 because of this guy. I never got one of the new Adidas ones because of this guy. I've loved lots of players over lots of years, but man... it was almost as if he could score at will... at least, that's how I remember it. Slashing to the basket, dropping a 3 or short range jumper. Have other's been better than he was? Sure... but I loved watching him play. After seeing what he did on the court, I can only imagine how painful it must have been to sit off the court and watch and not be able to do his thing.

Great article, and, like a lot of other people have stated already, you were always one of my favorites. Keep up the good work Keith, looks like things are going your way, as they should, but your good fortune is also a credit to your hard work. All the best.

I used to have a Ke-Freeze t-shirt with the "Super K" on the front like superman. Keith, after your career is over, there is a nice house in Lawrence for you and the family to settle down in. Your Hawk family will always be here to welcome you home.

Keith it is refreshing to know what went on. How hard you played and competed it was hard to believe you had merely a stomach virus. Obviously, you learned a thing or two about Journalism. Keep up the hard work!!! Hope to see you at Allen sometime watching your brother play.

I will never forget that Nebraska game your freshmen year. That shot! And the way you could drive by anyone anytime and get to the rack! Mannnn! Makes a sub 6 foot white boy from topeka jealous! Plus I'll always remember the night I passed Mr. Langford the man himself in the towers coming out of the elevator and being impressed with his friendliness to a crazed KU basketballl junkie fan. God Bless them KU Jayhawks. And God Bless Keith Langford!

Keith--I have a photo of you and my wife taken when you visited the US District Court Office in KCK which you autographed to me. Probably won't ever be worth a new car, but I will always treasure it. Glad to hear from you and I was greatly enlightened by your article. Good luck in all your future endeavors.